January 6, 2008
June Jones bids Aloha to SMU, Hawaii
The USA Today is reporting that June Jones has resigned as head coach of the Hawaii Warriors.
June Jones has resigned as University of Hawai'i head football coach, according to his close friend, Al Souza. Jones resigned this morning, citing among other things a lack of loyalty and commitment from athletic department leaders."This breaks his heart," Souza said of Jones' decision to leave.
Jones resignation on Saturday morning was a prelude to his interview with SMU, where he has reportedly been been offered a $2 million annual contract.
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Update 1/7/07 7:30a
Jones may be making a decision this morning on his future, either accepting the SMU head coaching position or potentially returning to Hawaii. Jones has been receiving calls and emails from Hawaii supporters, including the governor, to encourage him to remain with the Warriors.
During a dinner with SMU officials Sunday night, [Jones' agent] said he expected Jones to pick between the schools within a few hours. Around midnight, he called that prediction "unduly optimistic," mostly because of how emotional Jones had become. Steinberg said his client had tears in his eyes at times."Really, today could not have gone better from the standpoint of SMU. There were quality people, June loved the facilities, the support was terrific -- their actions were tremendous," Steinberg said. "On the other hand, there's been this torrent of e-mails and phone calls in the most dramatic fashion imploring him to stay.
"They talked about how unique his place is in the culture of the islands, what he means to the youth of the island, the economy, the morale and spirit, what a devastating impact it would have if he were to leave, how close he is to their heart and how much they love him. It's so unique. I haven't seen something quite like this."
ESPN is also reporting that Hawaii has made a second revised offer to Jones if he will stay, which will includes raises for his assistant coaches as well as facility improvements, two big points of contention for Jones.
In the wake of Jones' resignation letter to friends, there is rising sentiment among the boosters to fire AD Herman Frazier. In addition to potentially losing Jones to SMU, Frazier also failed to schedule an NCAA-approved 13th game for the Warriors this year - a mistake that potentially cost the school several million in athletic revenues. But losing Jones would be the proverbial nail in the coffin, it appears.
"This whole thing didn't have to happen," said Artie Wilson, a close friend of Jones. "We didn't have to get to this point. There was plenty of opportunity to address a contract extension and nothing was done."
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Update: 1/7/07 1:30pm
June Jones has accepted the head coaching at SMU and will be introduced at a press conference today in Dallas. The Dallas Morning News reports the deal as 5 years at "just short of $2 million year".
Perhaps a bit of a foregone conclusion, but -- in spite of the drama out on the big island -- the nation's longest current coaching search comes to a close with Jones becoming the highest-paid coach in Conference USA.
Comments:
Zac said:
posted on January 6, 2008 10:14 AM — 205.188.116.136 — link — abuse?
So, we have a coach resigning over issues with the school's Athletic Dpt Admin. My, doesn't that sound familiar. I wonder is WVU's AD also runs Hawii's Athletic Dpt.
If Al Sousa says Jones has issues with Hawaii's athletic department, there has to be some truth to it. I recall a feature (Was it last year or the year before?) regarding locker room conditions at Hawaii. That building should have been condemned!!! The conditions in most prisons were fat superior than those cited in that expose.
I've never been to Hawaii. I'm told it's a beautiful place. I'm also told, it's not only an expensive place to visit, it's an expensive place to live. TX may be a dryer climate, but it's still predominantly a warm one, with a much lower cost of living. There may be more sand, and not as much shore-line, but for $2 M, I think I could live with it. With that kind of money, one could affoard to vacation any where, not to mention Hawaii.
Jared said:
posted on January 6, 2008 11:25 AM — 71.136.238.130 — link — abuse?
Poor poor poor June Jones. He created one of the easiest regular season schedules in Division 1-A history, which included only one game vs. a top 50 team (at home vs. Boise State), going undefeated just like most of Division 1-A would, and was exposed by Georgia as an utter fraud..... and he wasn't rewarded with a hefty pay increase.
Poor baby.
40 Acres of Burnt Orange
posted on January 6, 2008 12:10 PM — 76.182.205.22 — link — abuse?
said:
@6 Zac if i do remember correctly it was Colt Brennan who was calling out the athletic dept saying they couldn't even afford soap in the locker rooms. Now when you have your coach and your players calling out the athletic dept you know something is wrong. Anyone who say's Jones is out of his mind for going to SMU is out of their minds.
SMU is located in one of the biggest hotbeds of recruiting in the entire nation. Not to mention SMU has a brand new stadium and some of the best facilities in the country for a school of it's size. Wonder if SMU will still be doing the buy one get one free tickets to their football games again this year!
wvu-togo said:
posted on January 6, 2008 12:18 PM — 170.215.129.13 — link — abuse?
Zac (6)
After reading many posts in here and the other CFB blogs, I am amazed at the comments made concerning the integrity and character of WVU’s Athletic Department. It would seem all the rants damming Ed Pastilong, his staff and the Board of Governors regarding the lost of coach Rod is without merit. I don’t think you or any of the other bloggers out there were privy to what transpired both before and after the announcement. I am fully aware Ken Kendrick came out in support of Rod and for the record I am one of his biggest supporters and wish him well at Michigan. From what the media has reported and Mr. Kendrick’s has said, I find it hard to believe the few minor items brought up when compared to the massive amounts of money spent and being spent, were in anyway the real reason for coach Rods departure. I think it is important for all of us WVU fans to remember it is very easy to destroy a man’s reputation and question his integrity but once that is done it is almost impossible to give it back. Its time to move on and put all the hard feeling towards coach Rod and Mr. Pastilong behind us for the sake of our football program and more importantly our University.
Go Mountaineers!
40 Acres of Burnt Orange
posted on January 6, 2008 1:28 PM — 76.182.205.22 — link — abuse? said:
It is a fun place to visit. I try to go there once a year for my reserve drills. The natives don't really like the mainlanders too much though. Plus there are a bunch of thugs always trying to rip you off, and fight you. Other than that it's a nice place to visit.
T-Mac
posted on January 6, 2008 7:00 PM — 66.78.139.117 — link — abuse? said:
c-dogg, you are absolutely correct there.
Basically, in real estate whatever your yearly salary is, they multiply that by 2 1/2.
That is generally how you qualify for a loan.
Hence, a $2 million annual salary for Jones would qualify him for a $5 million property.
T-Mac doesn't care where you live in the United States.
Hawaii, Florida, California, New York etc...
At $5 million, that is a MANSION ANYWHERE!!!
Simple Real Estate 101.
T-Mac will post when he can.
*T-Mac approved this message.
Tomcat said:
posted on January 6, 2008 9:33 PM — 69.153.80.147 — link — abuse?
Hey T-Mac thanks for the education dude, as always enjoy your posts.The 2 miL they are refering to is the SMU offer
Hawaii-------800,000yr High living expense
Dallas-------2,000,000yr Reg living expense
I really dont know much about Dallas, I'm sure that its simular to life in any big city,I'm sure that the recruiting is alot better than Hawaii and the fan base is alot better too. Good move for coach Jones. Good luck Mustangsbadgerballer
posted on January 7, 2008 2:58 AM — 70.59.192.32 — link — abuse? said:
I hate to disagree w/you realtors, and granted this has NOTHING to do with football, but...
There is currently a 3 bedroom, 2600 sq. ft. CONDO for sale in Honolulu for $4,995,000. And a very nice 2 bed/2bath, single family detached 2,000 sq. ft. for $4,700,000.
[http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?ctid=3030&mnp=51&mxp=50&typ=3&sid=f3ad19eec796456a926cc17c61af422b&lid=1084936437&lsn=4&srcnt=11#Detail]
As pathetic as it sounds, mansions in Hawaii are tough to come by on $2 mill a year.Tomcat said:
posted on January 7, 2008 4:00 AM — 69.153.80.147 — link — abuse?
Thanks bagerballer for the info
Guess the HC out there is in a used singe wide and wanting to upgrade to a doublewide with an acre. Wonder what the utility rates are, I know that the groceries are expensive. How much is gasoline out there? Makes Dallas sound purty good.
posted on January 7, 2008 8:00 AM — link — abuse?Kevin Donahue
said:
Jones may be making a decision this morning on his future, either accepting the SMU head coaching position or potentially returning to Hawaii. Jones has been receiving calls and emails from Hawaii supporters, including the governor, to encourage him to remain with the Warriors.
During a dinner with SMU officials Sunday night, [Jones' agent] said he expected Jones to pick between the schools within a few hours. Around midnight, he called that prediction "unduly optimistic," mostly because of how emotional Jones had become. Steinberg said his client had tears in his eyes at times.
"Really, today could not have gone better from the standpoint of SMU. There were quality people, June loved the facilities, the support was terrific -- their actions were tremendous," Steinberg said. "On the other hand, there's been this torrent of e-mails and phone calls in the most dramatic fashion imploring him to stay.
"They talked about how unique his place is in the culture of the islands, what he means to the youth of the island, the economy, the morale and spirit, what a devastating impact it would have if he were to leave, how close he is to their heart and how much they love him. It's so unique. I haven't seen something quite like this."
ESPN is also reporting that Hawaii has made a second revised offer to Jones if he will stay, which will includes raises for his assistant coaches as well as facility improvements, two big points of contention for Jones.
In the wake of Jones' resignation letter to friends, there is rising sentiment among the boosters to fire AD Herman Frazier. In addition to potentially losing Jones to SMU, Frazier also failed to schedule an NCAA-approved 13th game for the Warriors this year - a mistake that potentially cost the school several million in athletic revenues. But losing Jones would be the proverbial nail in the coffin, it appears.
"This whole thing didn't have to happen," said Artie Wilson, a close friend of Jones. "We didn't have to get to this point. There was plenty of opportunity to address a contract extension and nothing was done."
posted on January 7, 2008 1:49 PM — link — abuse? said:
June Jones has accepted the head coaching at SMU and will be introduced at a press conference today in Dallas. The Dallas Morning News reports the deal as 5 years at "just short of $2 million year".
Perhaps a bit of a foregone conclusion, but -- in spite of the drama out on the big island -- the nation's longest current coaching search comes to a close with Jones becoming the highest-paid coach in Conference USA.
Lennie Collins
posted on January 8, 2008 1:03 PM — 70.251.191.250 — link — abuse? said:
Don't be surprised when you think you are seeing Keith Richards on the Southern Methodist sidelines in two years! It will be all the stress June Jones will endure knowing he cannot win let alone recruit talent there.
westex74 said:
posted on January 8, 2008 3:54 PM — 69.58.249.133 — link — abuse?
Why can't SMU compete year in and year out??? would a kid rather spend 4 years in Dallas, Texas or Lubbock??? or Waco?? or Tulsa?? or Boise, Idaho??
SMU has awesome facilities and a beautiful campus in one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Texas (Park cities).
Finally SMU has leadership that wants to compete. There are too many schools that have less going for it than SMU that are doing well rught now. Rutgers, Boise State, TCU, Louisville, et al.
SMU has all the tools to be a success. Just needs the right people.
Bevo Boy said:
posted on January 8, 2008 4:18 PM — 205.188.116.136 — link — abuse?
The only problem for him is all of the other good schools in and around Texas. Jones will have to fight for recruits with Texas, OU, OSU, ATM, TTech, and many other schools that send scouts to Texas to watch those recruits. They will be harder to convince than the Hawaii players because there are other good schools to choose.
Cane Mutiny
said:
posted on January 6, 2008 12:53 AM — 65.12.247.141 — link — abuse?Who in their right mind willingly moves from Hawaii to Dallas, Texas?? Football aside, BAD CALL, June Jones!